Why Complaint Handling Should be an Essential Element of Client Care, and Continuous Improvement at Your Law Firm

Recent research from the UK Customer Service Institute shows that 78% of customers have contacted a company multiple times to address a single concern.

Customers are becoming more demanding than ever, but organizations are getting worse at dealing with the complaint itself, with a key finding from the research being that ‘organizations have taken longer to resolve complaints, and more problems remain unresolved.’

Against this backdrop, it’s inevitable that at some point in time a law firm will receive a complaint from a client about the service delivered.

When things go wrong, as they invariably will from time to time, it’s crucial that law firms manage the subsequent complaint properly so that the client’s concerns are dealt with appropriately.

How a law firm responds to a client complaint is an essential element of client care, and can be an important way of differentiating a law firm’s approach from the competition.

Law firm leaders should realize that clients are no longer comparing your firm to your competitors. Instead, they compare the service provided by your firm with the service they receive from every other business they interact with, irrespective of the size and resources of the business and the customer service training received by employees of those companies.

Good complaint handling starts at the top of a law firm and requires strong and effective leadership. Senior leaders should develop a culture that values and welcomes complaints as a way of putting things right and improving service.

I’m fortunate in that the firms I have been associated with have all taken client complaints extremely seriously, with the utmost professionalism, with complaints often investigated and handled by the firm’s senior partner, setting the tone and acting as an example for all staff in the process.

The complaints process itself should be clear and straightforward and should be readily accessible to clients via the firm’s website. The process should be well managed throughout so that decisions are taken quickly, things put right where necessary, and lessons learnt.

Complaints handling needs to be focused on outcomes for the client, providing fair and proportionate remedies. In many cases, an apology will be sufficient and an appropriate response and will prevent the complaint escalating.

Law firm leaders should ensure that all client feedback and lessons learnt from the complaints’ investigation process contribute to service improvement within the firm. Learning from complaints is an essential way of helping to improve service in a law firm, enhance its reputation, and increase trust amongst the clients that instruct the firm.

All client complaints received should be reviewed annually by the senior leadership team at the firm. This review should aim to identify trends, training needs, and whether changes to internal procedures are required. The annual review should be part of the culture of continuous improvement at the firm.

Why does complaint handling matter? The answer is because good complaint handling is an important way of ensuring clients receive the service they are entitled to expect. Those firms that invest the necessary time and resources in investigating and rectifying complaints by listening to their clients and acting with professionalism will enhance their reputation for excellence in client service and likely gain an edge on the competition.

If you’d like to discuss your approach to complaint handling at your law firm, please contact me at ih@hopkinslegalconsulting.co.uk or give me a call on 0791 666 9095. I would be delighted to have a free, no-obligation, and of course, confidential discussion.